Asia Cup 2025: Butterfingers Indians — blame it on Dubai’s ‘ring of fire’?

The 17th over during Bangladesh’s chase in their Asia Cup Super Four match against India on Wednesday was eventful. Kuldeep Yadav started the over with two wickets on the spin, and he was on a hat-trick. Nasum Ahmed denied Kuldeep the honour but in the fifth ball, there was another opportunity. Abhishek Sharma, however, dropped Saif Hassan at fine leg. The Indians were putting on an exhibition of dropped catches. Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson — all of them were guilty of putting down presentable chances. And this game wasn't a case in isolation. In their previous match against Pakistan also, India had dropped four catches.

There's a gulf in class between India and the rest at the ongoing Asia Cup. Suryakumar Yadav & Co can afford to be butterfingers and still win matches comfortably. Against tougher opponents, however, with such profligacy, India will suffer. The next T20 World Cup is less than six months away.

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According to India’s fielding coach T Dilip, Dubai International Stadium’s ‘ring of fire’ makes life difficult for the fielders as regards taking high catches. “It's all about how players are switched on at that particular moment, and how they respond to that particular ball, which is very important considering the humidity around Dubai,” he said on a video that the BCCI posted on its Instagram handle. “One of the challenges we encountered especially in Dubai Stadium is the lights are slightly different; it's more of a ring of fire, which are on the dome basically rather than the poles, which you usually come across.”

So how does the ‘ring of fire’ increase the degree of difficulty? “The challenge in the ring of fire is, especially on the outfield boundary line catches, there is a tendency that you lose the sight of the ball for a split second, especially when the ball is travelling through that or coming through it,” Dilip explained. “And another challenge is that because of the humidity-density, the depth and perception of high catches over a period, the drop is different compared to other places. We have been taught throughout our lives to always watch the ball into your hands, and as soon as you don't see the ball for a split second, you tend to panic.”